Ventuno Restaurant — Restaurant in Nantucket

I have been a seasonal visitor to Nantucket for over 30 years and nothing can compare to the treatment my party of six received last night at Ventuno. One of my friends asked about the wine list and the server responded, “Would you like to talk to a sommelier?” Having had a previous disappointing experience, my friend requested a different individual than the one from his earlier visit.

A few of our napkins were damp, wet enough to leave water stains on laps. When we asked for dry napkins, a server brought out a few more, equally damp, serviettes and explained that the owner likes to steam them so that they’re not wrinkled. I’ll take a dry, wrinkled napkin, please.

I ordered a Negroni and my wife ordered a Martini.

The server returned with a Martini and a Manhattan. After we ordered our food choices, my friend noted to the server that the sommelier never showed. She didn’t respond.

Some 10 minutes later, a woman turned up who was equally humorless and uninformed. When asked about a particular vintage, she responded, “I don’t know, I’ve never had a wine from that year.”

The wine list is stocked with overpriced, low-rated choices. But, it doesn’t hold a candle to the drubbing your wallet takes from the food side of the menu.

Most of the dishes are crafted as you would expect from a vacation destination, passable with plating that comes off as mimicry of better fare from more serious establishments.

My prosciutto wrapped soft shell crab with risotto sounded amazing but was not. Smearing a plate with a couple tablespoons of one of the main elements of a dish is nothing but showmanship. The daub of risotto on my plate was overcooked and bland, no evidence of the desired aldente bite.

There were good reviews of the dishes around the table but nothing wowed.

The bill arrived and should have been delivered by someone holding a weapon. And the 20% gratuity charged for large parties (six people is a large party?) was so cleverly hidden that it was nearly missed.

Rude staff, uninformed sommelier, wet napkins, average food.

The good news is that the drinks are very good, even when you get...

I wish I could leave two separate reviews, one for the food and one for the service, because they couldn’t have been more different.

The steak was phenomenal, the seabass was perfectly cooked and all ingredients came together perfect, the meatballs were flavorful and tender, and the burrata was top notch. The kitchen clearly knows what it’s doing, and the quality of the food alone makes this place worth considering.

But the service? Easily some of the worst I’ve experienced in a long time.

Our waiter approached the table and began shouting something while I was still reading the menu. When I looked up and asked him to repeat what he said, he seemed offended, then walked away and took forever to return. I noticed him speaking in a perfectly normal tone and manner to the table beside us, which made our interaction feel even more deliberate and strange.

When I later asked a question, he literally put his hand up to stop me mid-sentence, as if I was bothering him. He acted annoyed any time we spoke, and he was honestly difficult to hear most of the time. It was uncomfortable and unnecessary.

To top it off, we were seated at a random, awkward table in a high-traffic area, which felt oddly out of place considering there were better spots open.

Bottom line: this place has incredible food, but the waiter we had was rude, dismissive, and full of himself. If service matters to you, it might ruin...

We are island homeowners and loyal customers since the place opened (and 21 Federal before it), but our recent frustration with Ventuno has been a surprising downturn in service the past 2 seasons - beyond what has happened island-wide.

Wait staff is "okay" (meaning not terribly timely or attentive (particularly when things go wrong with a dish)). Moreover, in contrast to the past, when the wine list was exciting and the somms were eager to please, we have experienced consistent challenges with the wine staff. We have struggled with the list, which seems to predominantly consist of sub-90 rated bottles at 5-6x mark-ups. (Translated: at $100-150, you're drinking a $15-20 bottle.) Rather than working cooperatively with the customer to find a hidden gem or to engage in helpful discussion about likes/dislikes, in our experience the wine staff gets indignant/intolerant. Management has not been interested in our feedback.

Food menu is solid, but getting a bit tired. Atmosphere is very pleasant, although on the loud end of the spectrum.

We think there's lots to work with at Ventuno, but currently there are...